I collected baseball cards from the late '80s through 2002. Then I went to college and when I came out, I was lost. There were too many brands, sets, choices, relics, autos, parallels, variations. It was a turn off. However, I slowly made my way back.
So here is my attempt to venture back into the hobby. I'll buy a few packs of cards here and there, comment on some cards I have, send out some TTMs, and follow the progress of my Topps Yankees Project.

Tabs

Monday, October 24, 2011

My first vintage Willie Mays card

I feel like a collector with no goals lately. I'm not really pursuing any new sets or any player collections with much vigor. I open a few packs here and there, and if I pull anything interesting I just look to trade it off for some Yankees. Since I'm mindlessly wandering as a collector, and with a son on the way that I hope to give my collection to one day, I've started looking into various vintage cards to add to my collection that I can bequeath one day. I'm not just looking at Yankees, either. I'm trying to acquire a few cards of some Hall of Famers and the best players of all-time.

The problem is, these guys are expensive, so I've started by looking for a few cards that are in poorer condition than a lot of collectors might prefer. The first purchase I made with this in mind is a 1970 Topps Willie Mays, pictured below. I got this for less than $3 (including shipping) on eBay. Obviously the condition is rough, but owning a card of a player like this makes the blemishes worth it.

I'm not going to go crazy doing this - looking for low grade cards, but I just like owning a card of the all-time greats, and Mays certainly is one of the best ever. One day I hope to upgrade to a nicer card of his in better condition, but for now, this will do just fine.